Second Is First
The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; and two peoples will be separated from your body; and one people shall be stronger than the other; and the older shall serve the younger.” Genesis 25:23 NASB
The older shall serve the younger – God dictated that Esau would serve Jacob. At least that’s what we always thought. But Jonathan Sacks suggests that we haven’t paid attention to the oddities of this text. First, it is very strange that Rebekah “went to seek the Lord.” Sacks notices that this is the practice of pagans. It suggests oracles, not prophecies. In fact, one of the distinguishing marks between Hebrew and Greek thinking is that Greek oracles are about personal questions whereas Hebrew prophets come with communal messages. Maybe this inquiry isn’t quite a pure as we have imagined.
Secondly, Sacks notices that the syntax itself is peculiar. The word et, indicating the direct object of the sentence, “is conspicuously missing.”[1] Since there is no indicator as to which word is the direct object and which is the subject, the actual word order could be reversed. The younger could serve the older.
Finally, Sacks notes that the words themselves are not what we would expect. The word tsa’ir does mean younger, but its opposite is not rav, as we find it in text. It is bechir. Rav doesn’t actually mean “older.” It means “greater.” Sacks comments: “This linking together of two terms as if they were polar opposites, which they are not, further destabilizes the meaning. Who was the rav? The elder? The leader? The more numerous? The word might mean any of these things.”[2]
There are even more complications which we will not explore for the moment. Suffice it to say, the usual translation, producing a message of God’s election of Jacob as opposed to Esau, is not as solid as we thought. Certainly God does choose Jacob, but the idea that all of this was predetermined and predestined isn’t quite so clear anymore. Perhaps the unfolding of human destiny is a lot messier than we wish it to be. Perhaps the text is deliberately ambiguous so that we will not be seduced into thinking God has it all planned out in advance. Maybe the choices of Esau and Jacob alter the course of the universe—just like ours.
Sacks concludes: “Jacob fights, not Esau, but himself-in-the-presence-of-God. That is what he means when he says he has seen God face to face. He knows who he is, . . .”[3] He is not that man others wished him to be or that man he tried to be to please someone else. He is finally himself, the one God loves just as he is—Jacob, the younger. The man without a mask.
The biblical text is far richer than our truncated translations will ever portray. The text forces us to drink deeply from the psychological trauma of the patriarchs, the same trauma that we must encounter and wrestle with if we are to know who we truly are. The fight is messy. The descriptions we use are often turned into just the opposite of what we expected. The way is not foreordained. Sometimes you can’t be sure which side of the river you are really on. But you know there is a battle to be fought. How it comes out will change the world.
Topical Index: younger, older, tsa’ir, bechir, rav, Jacob, Sacks, Genesis 25:23
[1] Jonathan Sacks, Not In God’s Name, p. 139.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid, p. 141.
Amazing how translation can do so much to alter our perception of YHWH’s Word, and His ways /standard. And, we presumed we know so much already.
Blessings, Skip for sharing this with us, so appreciate it. What a TW!
This projects a better image of His Name/ character than that He has a hand / control on our destiny, no matter what choices, or decisions we make.
Gives us a clearer responsibility of our words, deeds that will affect all creation around us.
Much food for thought re translations we read, so critical to our understanding.
Yes, indeed, the Biblical text is by far richer than our translations can portray!
“..the one God loves just as he is—Jacob, the younger. The man without a mask”- not just being the younger, but without a mask as to what he desires of YHWH- His double blessings!
“All things work together for good” is a conditional statement that applies only to “those who love God”.
Those who try to accomplish good in their own way end up getting in the way. We all jump the gun from time to time. Rebekah, like Eve, did too (as did Jacob). For that matter, so did Sarah. (Yep, me too!) Trying to carry out the will of YHVH without YHVH is just rebellion with a mask of feigned obedience (legalism). What is lacking is trust – but without our trust, His hands remain tied in that area of our lives. His will does not change, but it waits on us to hand the situation over. His good requires our trust – “yielded and still”. When Rebekah ‘got her way’, the result was to never see her son again.
Waiting on the Lord. Oh, how hard it is to admit that I do not know what is the right way to accomplish what is best for me – or anyone else!
Amen!
The Flip Side of the Coin
Of Carrots and Sticks
~ As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated ~ (Romans 9.13)
What was wrong with Cain’s sacrifice compared to Abel’s? http://www.letusreason.org/Doct100.htm
Time will tell. So will the history or story of these two sons. Biblical typology might come into play here, but then we might be “accused” of reading into the text. But it is what we do that determines our destiny and there is no doubt, “thinking” drives our behavior, that is unless we “act without thinking.” Our minds matter and there is now, most assuredly a “battle for the mind.”
“Don’t think about it, – just do it? No. Ain’t gonna happen, bro. I am, according to Biblical instruction, going to have a “selah” session. Love the word, “selah” – don’t you? It is the “pause that refreshes.”
~ This book of the law, (this Book of instruction] shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then thou shalt make thy ways prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success ~ Any questions?
Now hopefully, having lived this long, and of course covered with the many scars that life will bring (in this world you [too] will have tribulation), we (hopefully) learn from our mistakes, misdeeds, blunders, errors, etc..
But far better is to learn from the wrong “choices” of others!! Tell me Esau, – how did that work out for you? Not too well, I see. And Jacob, why, o why did God ever favor you? Why did He shed His grace on thee? Let’s listen in on this piece of history: ~ For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ~ The Sovereignty of God. He is “who He is” and He will do “what He wills to do.” So here is the answer to the (really stupid question), “Can God make a rock so big, He can’t pick it up?” Friend, God can do (and will do) whatever He wants to do, and whenever He wants to do it, and with whatever means necessary He chooses to use!
But let’s zero in on this “merciful and compassionate” God. Biblical history tells me of another man. One (a blind beggar) who cried out, “Yeshua!, Thou son of David, – have mercy on me!” Friend, did (the) Christ, the Anointed (One) hear and answer this man’s fervent prayer? And the answer is? A very blessed, “amen!” The good news? “Whosoever will, may come!” I love happy endings, – don’t you?
A little deeper digging.
We are all seeds of Abraham. Like sand of sea – Esua. Like stars in the heaven – Jacob.
Our role to die in Adam to be reborn in Christ to fulfill our purpose in the specific seed.
God blessed both seeds not only the one…
The man without a mask, that statement really grab me, do we all wear mask in our lives daily? We only see the outside but YAH sees our heart.
For YHVH’s thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are our ways YHVH’S ways, so are YHVH’S ways higher than our ways, and YHVH’S thoughts than our thoughts. This is one reality we will always have to use to measure whatever thought we have about what is recorded in the scriptures, as only the essential essence of YHVH’S purpose has been revealed so that we can believe and trust in Him…
The good of all our discussions is that our conversations are in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, Yeshua: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
To achieve this we must all die in Adam, so that we can be made alive through anointment, every one in his own order: Yeshua the firstfruits…
So shall our firstborn serve YHVH’s firstfruit. Esau/Adam shall full the earth and Israel/The anointed shall rule by relating all to the heavenly power of YHVH and thereby find peace, joy and righteousness in what is done on earth – the word take on flesh and the darkness shall not overcome it…
Yeshua did not seek records as those before Him as He said we shall be His book/way read and understood by others – The lion in Judah ruling not from leading but ruling through re-aligning the ways Esau does what he does to be like the sands of the sea… All unto the glory of YHVH.
The messiness of our lives is not something we want to share. Does a person’s mask come off voluntarily? I don’t think so. At least not the first go around. But what can come out of it is a freedom that a person would never experience otherwise. Fear seems to prevent us from taking off our masks. And ego. I have to wonder if Adam and Havvah realized instantaneously after eating the fruit. It must have felt like sheer out-of-control panic to realize what they had given up.
Hi Carl, what does selah mean? Rabbi Sacks said God chose Jacob because, “God chooses those who cannot do what others do naturally/others take for granted.” …..Esau is like Ishmael-has strength and cunning….for Israel, it is divine intervention. Israel must depend on God. As those of us who “now know” this is so true!
This TW reminded me that I need to read Skip’s new book, Crossing, again. I read it the first time in a few hours. It was fascinating. And as I have certainly wrestled with my identity as in who I was as defined by family and community. Now I know who I am because I belong to YHVH. My identity is in Him, through Him and because of Him. May I humbly follow in Yeshua’s footsteps. As in actions not words. Thanks Skip. ?